The Letters
by PetchricorXConstellation
Summary: Didn't catch ever little bit of the letters going between the Director and the Chairman? No worries, you can read 'em here! *rated T because I just felt like it I guess*
1. Part 1

**I decided to do this randomly, no idea why though. There will be ten of the letters in each one except for the last one, because the last letter gets it's own chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Dear Director,

I want to thank you in advance for your openness to our subcommittee's request for more information. We were disappointed that your recovery force reported a total loss at outpost 17B. We had hoped there would be at least one soldier left that could shed some light one the situation. I know that your agency has enjoyed a high degree of freedom with very little scrutiny in the past few years. It is not our intention to disrupt such a progressive military program, but instead to find a way we can work together in a manner that fits all our responsibilities. I am certain that you will agree. And we look foreword to making this review process as painless as we possibly can.

...

Dear Chairman,

While I am obligated to assist your investigation I ask that you not waste my time with irrelevant questions. My agency is normally unconcerned with such minor directives as troop reassignments. Except of course, in the most critical of matters.

...

Dear Director,

Due to your busy schedule we have begun interviewing members of your staff. I am certain you will let us know if this bothers you. Our debriefings keep coming back to a single subject at outpost 17B. Can you explain to us what this 'Meta' is and what your plans are to deal with it?

...

Dear Chairmen,

Rest assured we have the situation under control. While the Meta is proving to be an illusive enemy, our recovery agent is already closing in on it. I expect this insinuate will reach a conclusion soon, and I will be able to return to my research. Hopefully, without further interruption.

...**  
**

Dear Director,

We can all understand that a shift from autonomy to oversight can be a difficult adjustment for anyone, but especially someone of your standing. In that spirit, we have attempted to accommodate to your brief explanation to our serious inquiry. None the less, I feel compelled to inform you that even our trust has its limits...

Dear Chairmen,

The Meta is nothing more than an entity seeking to increase its power. In these confusing days after the war, from my perspective, that seems to be a very common occurrence at the moment.

Dear Director,

Your program was granted the use of a single Artificial Intelligence unit for implantation experiments. Yet, the department records clearly show multiple agents in the field with implants during the same timeframes, surely this must be a logging error. And we anticipate a corrected document soon.

Dear Chairmen,

I understand you concern that increased activity would bring increased risk. However, our failsafes are simple but foolproof. A dead or dying agent's beacon automatically notifies our recovery team. And we will be on the scene immediately, to secure all the military's property.

Dear Director,

I feel you're avoiding the question, if this target was already in possession of an AI unit how was he able to secure an additional unit from agent South? Would not that verify, as we indicated earlier, that your program now runs experiments with more than one Artificial Intelligence? If so, where did this additional AI come from? And more importantly, how did your agency procure them?

Dear Chairmen,

Our records in this matter are impeccable, and I will refer you to them. It is true that we were granted the use of only one AI program, yet with special permission to conduct our experiments that is all we were allowed to do, and that is all we have done. Of course, I am sure that you will agree that the core mission of any scientific endeavor is to find solutions to unexpected problems.


	2. Part 2

**And here's chapter two. Next chapter is simply the last letter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Dear Director,

Do your 'creative solutions' include the sercumvension of the safety protocols that everyone member of the military must follow? If they do not, then I fail to see how an enemy has managed to secure not one, but several of your experimental AIs. The protocol is not a guideline, dear Director. It is doctrine, and no one is above its rule.

Dear Chairmen,

I too hold the protocol in the highest regard, the doctrine kept us all safe during the great war. If you are insinuating sir, that we violated it in any way, or that we would dare lect in our duty to the military, well than I suggest that you be direct, and tell me exactly how we did so.

Dear Director,

Our laws are not designed to outline every possible infraction that may take place, however the spirit of the law is clear. Blatant disregard for the safety and well-being of our citizens, in any form, will always be a punishable offense regardless of how well, or by whom that offense has been justified.

Dear Chairman,

Sir, while I appreciate your concern, allow me to correct you in one area; I value all our subject's well-being. But I revere above all else our ability to continue as a species, our ability to survive. And no committee, no bureaucrat, will ever convince me otherwise.

Dear Director,

Please do not attempt to recast this investigation as some type of personal vendetta. Our questions to this point have been fairly standard, your reactions have not. As such, we have secured all your records and logs by the authority granted us by the UNSC. Now, we shall see exactly what it is that you have to hide.

Dear Chairman,

I imagine this investigation of our program is providing you with the kind of attention that politicians crave so much. How very predictable. What has surprised me most about mankind during the great war is not our ability to adapt to the new arenas of conflict, but instead our willingness in victory, to so quickly turn to the old.

Dear Director,

It is now clear that your agency and its primary program, Project Freelancer, have abused the trust and freedoms that the Oversight Subcommittee has provided you. Your abuse of the Alpha AI will now become the subject of a criminal investigation. I am sorry Director, but you have seen the end of my patience.

Dear Chairman,

I don't give a damn about your committee and it's opinions of my work. Have you forgotten, sir, that we were at war? A fight with an alien race for the very survival of our species? I feel I must remind you that it is an undeniable, and might I say a fundamental, quality of man, that when faced with extinction, every alternative is preferable.

To the Director of Project Freelancer,

I regret to inform you that by the authority of this subcommittee, officers have been dispatched to place you under arrest, and we expect your full cooperation. Congratulations are in order, I suppose. When they right the new morality protocols for dealing with AI I'm certain they will name entire sections of the doctrine after you. It seems that you will earn your place in history after all, dear Director.


	3. The Last Letter

**And here's the last one.**

* * *

Dear Chairman,

I am disappointed by your decision to press charges, but I am not surprised. My only hope is that the corps will see the matters differently than you have. You see, I never had the chance to serve in battle, nor did fate provide me the opportunity to sacrifice myself for humanity as it did for so many others in the great war. Someone extremely dear to me was lost very early in my life.

My mind has always plaged me with the question; if the choice had been placed in my hands, could I have saved her? The memory of her has haunted me my entire life. And more so in these last few years than I could ever have imagined. But given the events of these past few weeks, I feel confident that had I been given the chance, I would have made those sacrifices myself, had I only the chance.

I know that you disagreed with my methods and that others will as well, this is beyond my control. However, I cannot imagine that any corp would be able to convict me, no matter how low their opinion of my actions might be. You must understand one basic fact for all this to make sense, my dear Chairman. These AI, they all come from somewhere. They're all based on a person. Our Alpha, was no exception.

And while the law has many penalties for the atrocities we afflict on others, there are no punishments for the terrors we inflict on ourselves. So you send your men, they won't find themselves a fight. They'll only find an old man, an old man tired but satisfied he did his duty, an old man weary from a mind more filled with memory, than it is with hope.

Sincerely yours,  
The former Director of Project Freelancer;

Doctor Leonard Church

* * *

**And that's a wrap!  
**

**Thanks for reading, please review, and have a bow chicka bow wow day!  
Perla: And may it be the best one ever, of all time.  
**


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